Trapped in Turmoil
by ProudDyspraxicWriter
Summary: A new girl starts at Lakewood, George wants to make friends with her but she's shy, needs an assistant in class and doesn't like soccer. Eventually, he finds out why.
1. This Time It'll Be Different

**I have watching a LOT of Arthur recently, and it's really rekindled my love for the show. I particularly enjoy episodes like "The Boy With His Head in the Clouds" and "Prunella Sees the Light" and "When Carl Met George." I think they should make an episode about someone with dyspraxia, so I wrote this. I would love it if Marc Brown sees this! So…does anyone know where I can contact someone who works for the show?**

Trapped In Turmoil

Daisy sat in the back of the family car, sighing miserably. As the moving vehicle crept closer to Elwood City, the eight year old elephant felt a lurch in her stomach and she suddenly felt sick with nervousness. Her long grey trunk turned pale green and soon, the rest of her face was the same colour as mushy peas. Her mother, Mrs. King, noticed and turned around in her seat to see if her daughter was all right.

" Are you all right, Daisy? You look awfully pale!" she cried.

" I'm fine," the girl sighed again. " I just want to be liked at my new school, that's all."

" Don't be silly, honey! They'll love you!"

" Yes," Mr. King chimed in, keeping his focus on the road. " I've spoken to your principal and he said there are several pupils with additional needs, just like you! And in your classroom, there will be an assistant with you at all times."

Daisy rolled her eyes. " They said that in Crown City, and they did nothing to help me."

" Maybe this time it will be different," said Mrs. King, smiling.


	2. The New Girl

The school bell rang, indicating the start of a brand new day. A cacophony of car horns disturbed the surrounding area as parents dropped their children off. Arthur hugged his mum goodbye and dashed across the yard to meet Francine, Buster, Muffy and Brain. When he got to them, they were chatting excitedly like a group of gossipy geese.

" Hi, guys. What are you talking about?" he asked them.

" We've just seen the caretaker bring a new desk into the school," replied Buster.

" I wonder who the kid is," Francine riddled.

" Well, whoever it is, they'd better have a great fashion sense!" Muffy sneered, wrinkling her nose at Francine's red jumper.

" And we'd better not exclude them in any way," added Brain.

In Mr. Ratburn's classroom, the desk had already been set up for Daisy. The class began to file in, still whispering about their expectations of the new girl.

" Quiet, please! Quiet!" said Mr. Ratburn in a deep authoritative voice. " Find your seats so we can begin."

The children silenced their natter for the playground and they sat at their usual tables.

" Now, as you can see, we will be having a new student joining us today. But as it turns out, she hasn't arrived yet," the teacher continued, a glimmer of somewhat disappointment in his beady eyes.

Suddenly, there was a sound of rushing feet and someone panting. Clumsily, Daisy pushed open the door and stumbled into the room. The entire class stared at the elephant curiously, making her feel very uneasy indeed.

" Is this Mr. Ratburn's room?" she asked, stammering. Her lisp came on unusually strong.

" Yes, it is," he answered kindly, removing himself from his chair to greet his 'fresh meat'.

" Sorry I'm late. I got lost and couldn't find the room and I-"

Mr. Ratburn raised his hands, meaning he didn't want to hear any more. " Say no more. Boys and girls, this is Daisy King. She's just moved here from Crown City. I'm sure you'll let her feel welcome. Daisy, go sit over there next to George."

The girl smiled politely and made her way to sit next to George the moose. He waved and she returned it as she sat down but missed, falling to the ground with a bump. Everyone erupted in fits of laughter. Daisy blushed violently.

" Class!" Mr. Ratburn boomed, making them all silent as monks. " Are you OK?"

" Yeah. I'm OK," she breathed, still blushing. Embarrassed, she buried her face in her hands while she listened to someone stifling their giggles.

" Don't feel bad," George said. " Everyone's really nice…really…" He sighed and thought back to the day Binky stole Wally and threw him up to the highest tree branch, which George couldn't climb. " So you're from Crown City then. I love it there. I go every year with my grandparents."

Daisy scoffed, rolled her eyes and avoided eye contact with him. She didn't want to make friends. Not just yet.


	3. Soccer

At playtime later that day, Arthur and his friends were playing soccer on the grass. Francine caught the ball with her feet, dodged the other kids, and ran as quickly as she could. She dribbled the ball, making Buster trip. She bumped into Muffy, making her cry out in disgust as she scraped her knees in the dirt. The tomboy reached the goal and just when she was about to score, Arthur – who was playing as the goalkeeper – pounced on her, snatching the ball away, laughing insanely. Francine moaned. She stood up, brushed the dust off her trousers. Arthur caught a glimpse of Daisy. She was sitting on the swing with a forlorn expression on her face. He bit his lip.

" Maybe we should ask the new girl to join us?" he suggested.

" No, that new girl is weird," answered Francine. " I asked her how to spell 'necessary' in English this morning, she gave me a dirty look and ignored me. It was like she _wanted_ me to fail or something."

" When the Rat gave her the homework assignment, she had to ask _five times_ about what to do. The instructions were right there in front of her," Muffy added. " Talk about dumb!"

" Well, we should at least try to be nice to her," Arthur said. " Remember Sue Ellen first moved here? We all thought she was weird when she was just a perfectly normal kid." Arthur walked over to her. To her, he was hovering over her, like she had done something she wasn't supposed to. She gulped and started to tremble. " Hi, Daisy. Do you want to play soccer with us? We need an extra player to make the teams even."

" No," she said and continued playing by herself, which she liked and felt comfortable with.

" A-are you sure? Well, join us if you feel like it." He ran back to the field and caught the ball when Buster threw it at him.

Daisy rested her head on the palm of her hand. She heaved a sigh as she watched the other children play their games. There was something deep inside of her that told her to join in, but because she was so clumsy, she didn't want to put it on display which had caused so much trouble for her in the past.


	4. People Are Scary

At last, it was the end of the school day. Finally. Daisy could relax. She heaved a sigh of relief as Mr. Ratburn allowed his class to leave (in an orderly fashion as always.) The children walked swiftly out to go home, cheering happily as they went. Daisy wasn't one of them. She was so slow! She was still putting her things away when her teacher approached her. Little did she know that George was waiting outside for her, where he could hear every word. Even though they'd been sitting together all day, they hadn't the chance to get to know one another.

" So how have you enjoying Elwood so far?" he asked warmly.

" Uh, yeah. F-f-fine. Why? Am I moving again?" she replied with more hopefulness than disappointment.

Mr. Ratburn chuckled. " No. I was simply curious. I was talking to Mr. Haney at lunchtime today. He told me about your problems. He also said that your assistant will start tomorrow morning. Got it?" Daisy nodded. " If you have any problems just ask her, OK? Or ask me after school. We are here to help. It'll help if you make friends too. I noticed you've been shy."

" But making friends aren't exactly my strong point!" she cried.

" It's all a matter of confidence. There are some very nice people in this school. Like Muffy…or Binky."

" The big, scary looking guy? Well, all the kids are scary," she grumbled.

" If you feel uncomfortable in any way, you can always take a few minutes to compose yourself in the library."

" Could you come with me the first few times? I get lost. A lot!"

George was dumbfounded. He didn't bother waiting for her in the end. He suddenly felt uneasy. Instead, he began to make his way home alone. Once he was out of harm's way of any bullies, he swiped Wally, his ventriloquist giraffe dummy, from his backpack to have a civilised conversation with him. As he approached the Lundgren family home, he saw that his dad was working on an old, rusty vehicle in the garage.

" How was school, son? Learn anything?" he joked.

" There was this new girl. She was weird. She was ignoring people, telling them to go away and stuff, and when Ratburn was talking about the work, he had to explain it to her a zillion times! She didn't play with anyone at break time either. And after school, I overheard Mr. Ratburn telling her that an assistant is going to start tomorrow."

" She's just moved here, son. She doesn't know anyone yet, and she's probably feeling down about living in a different place. Give her more time, then maybe she'll start to fit in. If she's having problems understanding the work, it might mean that she has a learning disability of some sort – maybe dyslexia." So you wanna help me fix this car, George-o?"

George smiled at the thought of someone else in his class having the same learning difficulty as him.

At dinnertime that evening, The King family was circled around the table eating large plates of spaghetti bolognaise together. Usually dinnertime was celebrated in their household – since Gloria King was such a good cook – but during this particular occasion, no one breathed a word. Daisy's parents gave each other concerned glances as they watched their only daughter struggle with her knife and fork. After a few minutes, she let out a miserable groan.

" So were people nice at your school?" asked Mrs. King.

" No," the young girl mumbled so quietly that not even her parents could interpret it.

" What about your teacher? Did you have a helper?" she continued tentatively.

" Mr. Ratburn was nice. But the other kids scared me."

" How, sweetie?" her father asked.

" They…They…Well, I don't know! They were just _there!_ And there was this creepy boy, George. He sat at the same table as me. He tried talking to me a few times but I hated that. I just don't like him, that's all. And you were supposed to cut up my spaghetti for me! Oh, I can't eat this!"

The Kings exchanged very worried looks.


	5. Miss Browning

The next morning, it was time for school to commence once again. The children were whispering excitedly to one another about what they did after school the previous day. Daisy sat with George. Despite taking an instant disliking to him, she had promised her mother that she would at least try to socialise with him, even when she knew it was going to be difficult. Mr. Ratburn greeted them all and seemed genuinely pleased to see his newest student again. Just when he was about to explain what the Romans did for the modern world, there was a loud booming knock at the door and someone came in. A youngish dog woman stood there with several books in her hands.

" Are you Daisy's assistant? Come on in." Mr. Ratburn stood up to introduce her to the group. " Class, this is Miss. Browning. She's going to be in our room for the rest of the year."

" Is she going to be our new teacher?" asked Binky, raising his hand. " Because I don't think a new teacher is necessary. Unless…you've been fired for giving us too much homework."

" No, I haven't been fired. Since I need to keep my focus on _all _of you, Miss. Browning is here to give Daisy the attention she needs," he explained.

Daisy gulped. " I'm doomed," she muttered to herself.

Miss. Browning pulled up an extra chair and sat right in the middle of the two children. She smiled sweetly. " Hello, you can call me Maggie if you want. I'm going to write notes for you, OK?"

Daisy nodded. " Yeah, I always forget to do that."

" Is there anything else you need help with?" she asked.

" Well, I have a lot of trouble understanding what Mr. Ratburn means. And sometimes I can't concentrate," the elephant said.

" Right, OK." She wrote all of it down in her notebook.

George's eyes darted from right to left. Why did she need someone to help her? Why didn't anyone help him when he was first diagnosed with dyslexia? It didn't seem fair at all!


	6. Trapped in Turmoil

It was break time again. Everyone was skipping with ropes, playing football and soccer, swapping stories and toys, except for Daisy. She was doing what she always liked to do, which was sit in a quiet place beneath the safety of a tree and observe the bugs in the grass. Then suddenly, a soccer ball rolled over into her personal space.

Brain ran over and cheerfully cried out, " Throw it over, please!" he smiled.

The elephant bit her lip. She had no idea what to do. She didn't want to throw the ball; she didn't know how.

" Come on, Daisy! Kick that rock!" Buster encouraged her as he came up behind Brain.

She was confused. Rock? Oh, he must mean that rock there! She picked up the small rock that was underneath her foot and gave it to Buster. The white, big-eared rabbit stifled a giggle.

" I meant the soccer ball, but OK. Come on, play with us!" he said.

" No, I-"

" Come on. You don't have to be an expert. Just come and fun with us!" he cried.

With her mother's advice in her head, she stood up and tried to join in, even though she didn't feel like it. She joined the others on the field and they all let her kick the ball first. The ball lay on the ground, waiting to be kicked. She stared at it with a terrified expression on her face, but Arthur, Francine, Buster and the rest were cheering her on. She ran towards it, readying her leg for the almighty kick but lost her balance when she lifted it off the ground. She did gambol right in front of everyone. They all roared with laughter. Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran away, heading for the toilets. But George stopped her.

" I saw what happened. Are you OK?" he cried, grabbing her shoulder.

" No, I am not OK! I'm sick of this school. I want to go home!"

" But wait!" the moose shouted. " I want to talk to you."

Daisy raised an eyebrow.

" I just want you to know that I have dyslexia. Is that what you have?"

She sighed. " It's a little different from that."

" Oh. Do you have Asperger's Syndrome? I've noticed you don't like being around people. My friend Carl's like that. He has Asperger's and he's really smart!"

" Nope. I have dyspraxia."

George gave a blank expression. " What's that?"

" That's why I don't like playing soccer. Basically, I'm clumsier than most people. I can't play any sports and I have a lot of trouble with fine motor skills."

George looked blank again. " Fine motor skills? What's that?"

" What you do with your hands. Like I can't use my knife and fork properly, and I have really messy handwriting."

" Oh! I get it!" George cried. " So is that why Miss. Browning sits with you?"

" Partly. I also have problems with concentration and my attention span. I can't keep up with the rest of the class, so Miss. Browning writes notes for me to take home so I can read them in my own time. People tell me what to do but sometimes I don't understand what they mean. I might think they mean something when they mean something else entirely! Like when the rabbit asked me to throw the ball. He said 'rock' and there was a rock on the ground, so I thought that was what he actually meant, when he only meant the ball. Dyspraxia can also overlap with other disabilities, so I have problems reading and I don't like being around people. My mum says it's like I'm wrapped in wool."

George smiled. " I'm like that with reading. I read books, but I just don't get it! Words and letters just don't mean anything to me."

Daisy laughed. " It's good I have this with me." She opened her backpack and took out a book. But it wasn't a book. It was a CD version of a book. She also took out a CD player with earphones attached. " This is a book about dyspraxia. But since reading isn't my strong point, my mum got me the audiotape. It's called Trapped in Turmoil. It's written by a girl with dyspraxia called Elizabeth Diggs. It's great for people with dyspraxia _and_ people who know someone with it."

" Hey, this is really interesting. Let's listen to it together!"

**There is such a book as Trapped In Turmoil, but keeping with the Arthur tradition, it's been parodied. If anyone wants to know more, please PM me for more information.**


End file.
